Posts made in March, 2015

Overall

Ratri has a secret. In fact, she has a lot of secrets, and is willing to share them… if you have something worth trading for.

First Run “On the Loose”

PCs:
Aramoladd
Athelia
Morley the Dark
Ozymandias
Pfferdsensen the Trollrider
Ragnaroc
Vinnelope
Wussun of the Narwal Tribe
In their own words:

The “All Mother” Eir asked us to go check up on Ratri, who was chained to Law Rock in Mannheim.

We travelled to the south coast, where we interceded between (“Greenpeace”) Members of the Open Door, who was rescuing a small whale who beached itself to escape THE Serpent, and a group of Driftwood rights gang (dozen men w/weapons). After a run-around (literally by Wussun), minimal casualties and a patrol by Lord Luthor Sigursson, we headed to Sigurshelm where we met an old man who told tales (Hione?). Lord Luthor arrived later with a dead “fish man” and strange red algae.

Onward to Law Rock**, where a being was chained on top. Chains were broken and a parley began. What we learned ::: AS PER THE FREED LADY :::

Law Rock has “Fate of Janda” carved on it. (Not broken, see board). Not sure if this event has already happened.

As we were leaving, we found the area was surrounded by many trolls. They let us pass freely; were they under control of the Lady?

- Wussun, holder of the Keys

** En route, there was a mystery iron cage near Katla.

GM notes: This run was to give the players a flavor of Mannheim and an introduction to southern Jaanmark. Along the way, they got some quality time with Hione and Ratri. The players talked themselves out of a big combat with Trolls at the end of this run by playing nice with Ratri, who left them with some goodies and an “open door” for further trading of information, but the fact that they didn’t try to arrest Ratri disappointed Hione, who left the scene without warning to brood upon the state of Mannheim and the heroism of his Valiant.

The “Greenpeace” Members of the Open Door were a cell of dupes used by the overall Open Door of Night (ODoN), Ratri’s demihuman cult of the Serpent. While the dupes were a nuisance, the rest of the Cult could work in secret on their primary objective: to erupt the Ring of Fire and flood southern Jaanmark.

Second Run “To Stoenheim”

Looking for the wife of Oodlask, “Sybil”, supposedly a daughter of Hione.

In Stoenheim, encountered 3 Ettins. Killed 3 Ettins and looted the bodies. Found Sybil, got a letter for her mother. A group of Ettin attempted to kill Sybil. We saved her and delivered her to Oodlask via Valkyrie express.

Delivered letter to Eir. Also got a letter for Ratri (don’t know where she is).

MISSION ACCOMPLISHED

If you know where Ratri is, see Keith Belgerent for letter.

GM note: there was strong suspicion that Sybil was Ratri in disguise. Sybil was, in fact, a true daughter of Hione and Eir. I had originally intended for Sybil to provide information “for free” about Fate Stones, but the party was offput by their reception; when told that they were emissaries from her mother, Sybil was abrupt and complained it was a little late for her mother to mend bridges. As a result, they determined that Sybil should not be forced to come home to Mother, and simply asked to deliver a letter from Sybil to Eir.

This was actually a fabulous turn of events, because this brought Ratri’s “secrets for fate stones” exchange to the fore. Saturday morning, Wussun (from the first run) traded a Fate Stone from the Valor Hall board to Ratri for the information about how to break Fate Stones. Of course, Wussun didn’t ask about whether there were any *consequences* or limitations on who could break Fate Stones, so the players didn’t know about death by Fate Stone until they tried it, and they didn’t know that gods couldn’t break Fate Stones (and therefore Ratri must not be a god) until later still.

This new group is the worst so far. The Mannfolk wants to hunt us, and the Vatenari has an ego the size of the great serpent. We were deposited on the Stormsness peninsula. We proceeded to walk to a nearby town and entered the tavern. We found we need to travel north and east to find the farm Njalsson lives at. We reach a frozen river near the farmstead; however, we see a couple groups of people with weapons. Our suddenly giant flying Svartalfar played a decent role in ceasing hostilities. We flew to the farmhouse on our giant Svartalfar friend. Apparently the Njalssons are in a feud with their in-laws. All this boring diplomacy bores me, but we get Njalsson to agree that maybe it is time to end the feud. Apparently the Njalsson boys were trying to stop a blood feud by continuing the blood feud.

Our overly dramatic Vatenari informed Njalsson of the prophecy concerning his family. We then asked about the tablet to discover if he knew anything about it.

Many personal questions ensued pertaining to their family life, but I did not take part in this. I sat and meditated, preparing myself for the match to come. I woke up to people looking for my Katt Koomr and suggesting we turn them into a cougar.

KILL ME NOW

We set out after Skarp-Hedin, and found him near a bend in the river, out cold. I was forced to use the Katt Koomr on Kattero. A tattoo of a snake swallowing its own tail appeared briefly on Skarp-Hedin’s arm. He seemed unsure of what had just happened. The party thought that cutting the arm off might help. The Pain, My Head Hurts.

The party removed a curse from Skarp-Hedin, and he seemed to improve. We walk back to the house. He seems much less murder-y. They force me to pet Kattero with the brush again. It would appear most of the family has the arm marks. An Analyze Spell reveals there is a curse on them that will turn them into fish people. Someone just told Njalsson this seems fishy.

PLEASE MAKE IT STOP

Pirata Fuerte could not bring himself to continue, so Dimrodel finished by noting:

The cult in the town brings sacrifices to the fish people. The cult must be destroyed. Do that next. The cult was abducting the family and cursing them. We relocated the Njalsson family to a nearby town — Sigurshelm. Keep them safe. The future of the Carrunos religion depends on it.

PS – if they cause any trouble remind them of “a dwarf on both your houses”.

GM note: this was a short run, but the players got quite a lot done. It seems like the Fate Stone describing how the children of Njal would survive and help populate the New World was never actually found by the players, so it likely fell into the hands of Ratri’s minions. Eir had become aware of the existence of this Fate, and unsure of the status of the Fate Stone, and so wanted the Valiant to ensure the safety of the family. They did this rather well in this expedition, though I hear that they took Skarp-Hedin adventuring in a later expedition and got him killed in Baenheim. Should that have been a cross-scenario “With Friends Like These” nomination?

Fourth Run “The Open Door of Night”

PCs:
Black Sun
Haldir
Ilyeria
Markus
Thornflower
Thunder

GM Notes: NO RUN REPORT?! Those bastards!

This party wanted to go after the “Open Door” cultists, but struggled for a while to find leads. They went to Sigurshelm to talk to Luthor Sigursson, but he had died under somewhat mysterious circumstances — his horse fell through the ice as he was crossing the river. There was precious little in the way of hard information, as neither his marshal tasked with investigating the “Open Door” nor his daughter, now busy seeing to affairs of the town, seemed to know what was going on. [in the case of the marshal, he really didn't know what was going on; in the case of the daughter... see below]

Speak with Dead (or was it Question Dead? there was significant debate over which would be more useful to cast) revealed that Luthor believed he had been murdered by a mage. Using some items that allowed them to talk to crows, the party followed a potential suspect’s path upstream to the foothills of the mountains. With judicious use of Telescopic Vision, the party scouted a cave entrance a half mile off, and began to make preparations. First, the mages took a nap. Partway through the nap, the scout with See Invisible saw a group of seven lightly armored, cloaked figures leaving the cave, but no one else could. Quickly the party worked to make everyone able to See Invisible and plan out an ambush, but once buffed, Black Sun went Berserk and charged ahead. Markus tried to Hold Person, but Black Sun was already out of range [nyah! nyah! Clerics can't modify range because it's beyond the power of their god! wait, what, hunh?]

Black Sun, with a high Con and several levels of Toughness, refused to go down easily, but was glad when the rest of the party caught up. In a nice move before his HP dropped too low, Black Sun made his Will save to end his Berserk, Power Word cast Mirror Image (and rolled the maximum number of images), and went Berserk again.

The party took one prisoner, and with the help of ESP, determined that Luthor Sigursson’s daughter was the one who hired the mage. Searching the cave, they found a shrine to The Serpent being born “out of the darkness” that made them think of Ratri. There was also a device that could cause large scale Tremors. The way forward was now clearer; however, some of the players needed to get sleep, so they turned over the job of capturing her to the next party.

Fifth run “The Ring of Fire”

PCs:

Markus
Noly
Rogar Ironheart
Vegt

Using the Eye of Oodlask (see Shant’s scenario writeup when available), the party traced the activities of the Cult of the Serpent from Laex, its head (the daughter of Luthor Sigursson), to a network of cells, operating out of a series of small caves in the mountains. Each cave contained one of the tremor devices; the party now faced the difficult decision of whether to try to disarm the devices or go directly after Laex. They eventually decided to disarm the devices; the problem was that there were a lot of caves, but they hoped to take each one down quickly. The cultist crew manning the tremor device in the first cave was taken down before they could set off the device; however, one of the cultists left alive managed to activate a magical device carried on a cord around his neck that transmitted a message “to the lady”. The jig was up, and while the party was able to stop another tremor device just after it was activated but before it built up to full power, soon the Ring of Fire was erupting and mountains were literally blowing their tops.

The party now traveled to Sigurshelm, but Laex had flown the coop. (There was strong suspicion that Laex was Ratri in disguise, but she was the true daughter of Luthor Sigursson and one of Ratri’s high priestesses.)

Dismayed at having lost their original target, they thought of the Fate concerning Magus, and went with him to Katla (joining the party in Bob’s run) to see if they could both calm Katla and save Magus.

Technically Not A Run “Ratri”

A few final runs where plagued by Ratri. First, Steve W.’s party traded the secret of where Ratri could find a spear that would allow a non-god to kill a god (in the possession of Kjallintar in Bob’s run) in exchange for information on how to chain the Beast (your own son, Ratri?!). She promptly stole the spear, causing a little chaos in Bob’s run, killed Daglir offstage (slightly hosing two Daglir clerics as I went around and erased Daglir’s name from expedition chalkboards), and finally appeared in Blue’s run to stab her ex-lover Carrunos, putting him at death’s door. As Ratri tried to deal the coup de grace, however, Hugh (having broken a stone) “Defined Fate” to cause her to miss, and then Ryan (also having broken a stone) “Defined Fate” to cause her to miss on the multistrike. The players then used a lantern (acquired on a late night combined run with me and Bob) that allowed them to “Banish Shadows”, sending Ratri away and into hiding, where she did no more mischief for the rest of the con.

Run #1: Hunting the Beast

PCs: Valious Flex, Hrolf the Burning, Dimrodel

The party met with a group of Valkyries who transported them from Valor Hall to the plane of Mannheim in the Northern Jaanmark. The party was dropped off on the road to Rodel, the village responsible for the guarding of the chained Beast, Hralor. Rodel is also the village Dimrodel grew up in and saved several Ages in the past. The weather is very cold despite that fact that the sun’s path indicates it is late spring. Bandits on the road, threaten the party with violence but they do not take them seriously. When an eleven year old female Katterfolk named Tintam offers to lead them to the place she has seen The Beast chained they drop a turkey leg from Valor Hall and some other items for the bandits. The bandits fight over the things left for them. Dimrodel, a worshipper of Carrunos, just wants Tintam, the Katterfolk to start running, so he can hunt her for sport.

On the way, Tintam shows them a sketch she made from outside the grove of The Beast. It depicts Hralor chained with weapons embedded in his skin and fur. Upon arriving at the grove, they notice that the snow around is undisturbed and no natural occurring animals enter the odd-feeling grove. The also notice there are not any weapons in the 130 foot long form of Hralor. The group decides to summon a pig and commands it to enter. Nine skeletal condor-sized birds shuffle out from under the snow; eight of them descend on the pig and tear it to pieces. The birds with the emerald green glowing eyes burrow back under the snow. Suspecting an illusion, they sling a summoned rat at the Beast and it is skewered on the needle like fur.

Hralor’s voice rumbles out of his closed muzzle and when Tintam mentions that Dimrodel is three thousand years old (a fact he mentioned earlier), Hralor surmises he is one of the Valiant because he has heard the call of the roosters signifying The Final Battle of The Twilight of the Gods. He also surmises that they are there to see that he remains chained so that he cannot fulfil the prophecy of killing his grandfather, Hione.

The party decides that they need to get closer and they formulate a plan. They summon another pig and wait for the undead birds to attack it. Once the skeletal birds attack, the two mages coordinate their Fireball spells and decimate all within the radius. The one that held back and did not attack the pig flies off toward the village.

As they approached the hind quarters of Hralor, they heard hissing coming from one of the spots where a weapon should have been embedded in The Beast. As they prodded at the sealed opening, it opened and a large creature made entirely of air emerged. At its core was a small vortex of smoke. It was the smoke that spoke with Hralor’s voice. Another emerged from the belly area and flew over to battle the party. Hrolf cast a faerie fire to make the elementals easier to hit. A ward was cast against air elementals and it protected them against one of the creatures. When they all seemed doomed, Hralor’s voice cloud left the elemental and escaped down a hole expressing that he had wished that he could have fooled them longer but they would soon be dead anyway. No one would be warning Hione. With a bugbear and jubjub bird expertly summoned by Valorious Flex, they destroyed the two air creatures. Only a day earlier, these two creatures had been asked to keep Hralor’s discarded hide inflated while the majority of Hralor in his new gaseous form escaped down the hole. The party called back the Valkyries, returned to Valor Hall and reported Hralor’s escape.

Extra Information: If the party had decided to follow the smoke form of Hralor’s voice down the hole they would have followed a wide tunnel and emerged under the town bridge. Here they would have encountered the two trolls who had dug the tunnel and (if they survived) received some key items and much loot.

The undead birds were set to guard The Beast by a priest of Ronkel from the village of Rodel about fifty years ago. He had become mad with grief when people started to disbelieve in the gods and stopped guarding Hralor. He prayed for guidance from Ronkel and instead received instructions from a very young Thoki, the lord of Undeath, to create the birds. His instructions to his new creations were clear. Eight birds were to battle anyone who disturbed the grove and one was to fly back to the town and alert the priest and he would alert the militia. However, since those orders were instilled into the undead birds, the priest had died, the militia disbanded and the village of Rodel was all but deserted. Many of the citizens had already killed each other over food disputes. The starved residents all stared at the undead abomination perched on the head of the statue in the town square, directly outside the dilapidated church of Ronkel. The statue was carved to resemble a man named Dimrodel who had once saved the town but had died in the process long long ago. The bone and feather creation squawked and squawked. It stared at the gathering crowd with its emerald green glowing eyes and awaited further instructions that would never come.

Run #2: Seeking the Thief Lord

PCs: Krosp, Haldir, Pirata Fuerte, Kattero Hex, Ozymandias.

Back in Valor Hall, Daglir tells the next group that he intends on creating a new chain that is more subtle than the heavy chain forged by the Svartalfar masters two ages ago. He has many of the ingredients but needs at least three more rare items. The first is the Lock of the Thief Lord, known also as Calder Vel. However since the Thief Lord died he resides in Baenheim. The new lord of Baenheim, Thoki, will be obligated to meet with them and perhaps help them if they show him the ‘Good Token’.

The party is dropped off at the gates of Baenheim by the Valkyries who instruct them to blow the horn to call them back. They trek across the plane of Baenheim and enter through the gate of the city and are escorted through the city and into the stalagmite palace of Thoki. They meet Thoki who looks like a platinum-haired nine year old boy who has had his eyes replaced with faceted emeralds. His frigid aura of power leeches the life away from the living. He agrees to give them the location of Calder Vel in exchange for one game of Gobblet. One of them alone must play against him. If they win they get an escort to the resting place of Calder Vel and if he should win they get only the directions and they must bring him back something from the Thief Lord’s fortress. They agree and Kattero Hex begins playing. Thoki requests Samantha, a living woman, to watch over the game. The longer they play, the more she ages. Whether it was Thoki’s skill or his attempt at distraction Kattero Hex loses the game and Samantha is dismissed to regain her youth. Thoki explains that the item he wants from the fortress is a stone box with a clear front.

With Thoki’s instructions, the party arrives at a frozen lake. Situated at its center is a pile of Viking ships that were at one time lost at sea. After much reconnaissance, the party is still rather hesitant. So Calder Vel dressed in strange plate and a strange helm beacons to them to cross the ice and surprisingly they do. When they are half way across, The Thief Lord says that he will never go back and will not heed the call. He stomps his foot and six wet humanoid forms burst forth from holes in the ice. Combat begins and Ozymandias is shot multiple times with arrows and starts bleeding out. Kattero risks himself to feed a Valor Hall turkey leg to the bleeding Vatenari and saves his life. Meanwhile, Pirata Fuerte wrestles Calder Vel and eventually squeezes the life out of him floating in the water after the ice is broken. They then discover the lantern mark of Hione on each of their adversaries including Calder Vel. They were all Valiant who had escaped Valor Hall sometime in the Axe Age.

They are able to gather items at their leisure from the fortress known as Meidmar. They pick up the stone box and discover that it is filled partially with ashes and its base is made from a Fate Stone. On Calder’s body they discover that the Lock of the Thief Lord is actually a normal lock of blonde hair from Calder’s younger sister, Ratri Vel.

The party decides to not take the box back to Thoki. When they blow the horn and call the Valkyries to take them back to Valor hall, two flying skeletal giant serpents with green glowing eyes are sent from the city. Each serpent has three of Thoki’s private guards on it. Just as the party think they are doomed, the Valkyries arrive and whisk away our adventurers. But the serpents can also become incorporeal. Luckily, they do not move as fast as the Valkyries and they lose their pursuers before they reach Valor Hall.

Extra information: All undead created in this world are powered with the energy of Thoki which is why they always have glowing green eyes, similar to his emerald eyes.

Thoki is the youngest child of Ratri and Aru. And brother to The Beast and the World Serpent

Calder Vel was the mortal older brother of the mortal girl, Ratri before she was able to gain enough power to masquerade as a goddess. Calder’s death was the reason that she had no family when Hione the Hermit accepted her as his foster daughter.

Calder Vel was a great warrior from the Axe Age. When he died gloriously in combat, under orders from Hione, he was ferried up to Valor Hall by a Valkyrie. Calder grew tired of the monotony of Valor Hall and sought escape. He escaped to Baenheim along with six others knowing that the uneasy truce between Hione and Ronkel would prevent his capture. He set up the reliquary with ashes of his original body to keep the Baenfolk and Necromancers out. (see below). It is from his protected niche in Baenheim that he became the Thief Lord, stealing ships from the vast ocean. When the horn of the Final Battle was blown, he knew he would have to defend himself against any who would try to reclaim him for Hione’s grand army of Valiant. Early in the Axe Age, Hione realized that he needed Valiant who were heroic and not just simply skilled warriors and leaders (who were possibly selfish) to populate his army in the Final Battle.

The stone box reliquary is what maintained the ward that kept the spirits and necromancers out of the Lake of Iss surrounding the fortress of Meidmar. As long as the stone box remained in the ward, only the seven escaped Valiant (or other Valiant) could cross onto the lake. Thoki’s grand plan was to have the box removed from the lake so that he could come in and claim Meidmar as his own. The larger mass of Meidmar extended down to the bottom of the lake and could be reconfigured to provide transportation along the roots of the World Tree. By using Meidmar, Thoki could help get the Giants in Stoneheim to the Final Battle in Godsheim as per his mother’s wishes.

The group pf Valiants’ goal was to find the ‘Brightness and the Love of a Sun’, the next component to the chain that Daglir was forging to confine Hralor, The Beast. After discussion with Daglir and the severed and reanimated head of Mimir, a former Alfar king from the early Wind Age, the party concluded that the strange item could be found in the forests of Alfheim. Mimir explained that right before he was executed, the newest high Priestess of Danu was born. Her name was Gllalena (pronounced Gal-a-lay-na) which translated into Alfarish meant Brightness. She was cursed and blessed with an innate connection with the sun and had difficulty controlling her power.

They met with many colorful characters who told them that Gllalena was rarely seen because she was contained in a sphere composed of twisted of ironwood vines that was suspended between the ground foliage and the high tree canopies. The population, including Danu and Carrunos feared she would burn down all of Alfheim. But ‘The Brightness’ was a bitter woman who was devoid of love until recently. As a long standing tradition, she would not meet with anyone unless they brought her a Reethee flower. And if the party could find a Reethee flower they would be in for a treat because she had recently found love and was finally happy with an Alphar by the name of Ulifar who was somehow able to resist her fires.

The party needed a Reethee flower and they found that they were all but extinct for the Alphar revered Gllalena and had picked them all over the last two Ages I order to meet with her. After alienating the dancing and playing Alphar (otherwise known as Mimir’s Children, though they didn’t like being called that) they were told to go to a place called the Weeping Tree where a few Reethee grew at its base. After a skirmish with the fairies living among the bladed leaves of the weeping willow-like tree, they were successful in getting three Reethee flowers.

They heard crying coming from the flowers and found that the Reethee flowers contain the tiny offspring of the Fairies they had fought and killed. After climbing to the entrance of the ironwood sphere and exploring the strange fireproof sphere, they met with a few inexpertly designed traps including a Carrunos mirror corrupted with glass lace to change the party into prey animals. Fortunately, the party’s only Katterfolk, JAru Fyen, was unaffected by the magic as it originally was designed to be a beneficial prayer item.

When they arrived in the upper floor which was designed to look like a garden although a fireproof one, they met Gllalena, Ulifar and his two servants. Even though they delivered the Reethee flowers to “the Brightness” (who promptly roasted and ate the flowers and tiny offspring), she and Ulifar would not listen to Stentos, the party’s nature priest, no matter how much he implored them. She seemed happy but always agreed with Ulifar’s guidance and when she started to get upset and lost control of her fire powers he held her and extinguished her flames with some sort of cold powers. In desperation, the party’s talker consulted a magical set of Runic tiles they had picked up on a previous adventure. In response, the twenty five tiles fell in this pattern (see attached image) (Translation: CONVINCE HER HES NOT WHAT HE IS)

They entered into combat and successfully killed a servant. When he died, the illusion that was veiling him melted into mist and revealed a large creature with sixteen teeth that was obviously related to Giant kind. A few moments later, his body hardened and it crumbled into a pile of loose stones. Ozymandias was eventually able to dispel the illusion surrounding Ulifar and revealed his true form to Gllalena, who began to cough up a golden viscous liquid. It was the potion used to make her fall in love with Ulifar and that also clouded her mind with happy obedient thoughts. The axe-wielding Thune gathered up the liquid known as The Love of the Sun. Ulifar commented that his plan was to keep the person connected with the sun calm and literally cool so that she would never flare up and thereby keep the sun that warmed Mannheim from ever truly giving heat. Ulifar and his servants were responsible for the three year long winter known as Fimbulwinter. Now devoid of love once again and capable of bursting into flame she demonstrated her anger by grasping Ulifar’s head and reducing it to ash. The party quickly left the ironwood sphere as the temperature started to increase. They called for the Valkyries and returned to Valor Hall with the newest component in the chain that was needed to rebind The Beast.

Extra information:

The actions of the characters in this run ended the Fimbulwinter. The sun began to warm Mannheim and things began to thaw. In the days following what was supposed to be The Final Battle, the mortal world experienced its first Spring in three years.

The giants in the final encounter of this run were the runts of the Giant kind and relied on their innate illusion abilities and sneakiness to survive. They are called the Jotnar and are ruled over by the primordial Giant, Sjinnar.

When Gllalena, the High Priestess of Danu, was able to speak with her followers in Alfheim, she relayed what had occurred with the Giants who were able to infiltrate their forest. And realizing it should never occur again, she instructed the Children of Mimir to cease their play and prepare for The Final Battle against the Giants.

—————————————————

Run #4: Return to Grumgard

PC’s: Pirata Fuerte, Kattero Hex

Pirata Fuerte and Kattero Hex were talking with a frustrated Daglir who could not understand the final ingredient of the chain that he was trying to forge to bind Hralor, The Beast. Magus, the Master of Magic, appeared mysteriously to translate it. Speaking telepathically, he informed them it was something called the Last Tear of the Last Grumgard Giant. Magus opened a transportation portal so that the pair of Katterfolk could enter the Valley of Grumgard located in Godsheim.

They saw the stone ruin of the villages of each of the five Giant kinds; The Innauga, the Tetrakh, the Ettin, the Trolls and finally the Jotnar. In each location, Magus shared the stories that were at one time told by Hione as a wandering hermit of how each Primordial Giant was banished to Stoneheim for trying to betray or trick the gods. By weaving grand illusion, Magus showed that each time a Primordial Giant was cast down to the mortal realm or lost in the mists between worlds, some gods and their followers, led by Hione himself, slaughtered all the living creations of that particular Primordial Giant. Eventually, there were no more Giants left in the Grumgard Valley. Even Giant children were murdered such that the valley contained only the stone remains of Giant corpses mixed among the stone shells of the vine covered buildings.

In the final village, the party of two saw a lone Jotnar sifting through the rubble. Magus turned invisible and let them deal directly with him. When they approached him, he ran and behind a boulder and hid but a young Alfar maiden ran away screaming. When they realized that there was no where the large creature could have hidden they surmised that the Alfar was the Giant in disguise. When they caught up to him he did not attack and instead sought sympathy. The Jotnar found common ground in the Katterfolk’s hatred for Carrunos. The Jotnar continued to tell them that he was there looking for a lost artifact to help his lord, Sjinnar, the primordial Giant but he did not know what it looked like. As he explained he kept on shifting his illusional disguises. Once the pair of Katterfolk realized they couldn’t help, they allowed him continue searching.

Once out of view of the Jotnar, Magus made himself visible again. He explained that what he showed them was true because he was there in all instances hidden from view. As the last Grumgard -born Giant died, who happened to be a Jotnar child, he had caught its final tear and carried in his liquid body until he could release the burden of holding it to those who had seen what he had seen and could feel what he feels.

But his time was over. The Wyrd sisters had prophesized his death saving many in Mannheim and although his fate may no longer be locked, knowing ones fate and following it was a comforting thought. But before he left to fulfil his destiny, he gave Kattero Hex a feather from his truly magnificent hat for the laws of magic were about to change. He gave Pirata Fuerte a Valkyrie horn to summon a ride back to Valor Hall and Magus left through a magical portal to do what he could do against the volcanoes in Mannheim.

Extra information:

Magus is also known as Godspittle as he was created from the combined saliva of all the Gods. Magus acts as the filter to the wild magic in the world. His godly aura of power is the ability to tame and control magic. Without him magic would be more difficult to control. The situation would get worse and worse the longer the world is without its magical governor.

Ratri was asked in many different points in history to erase certain memories in individuals. The first time she was asked to do it to a god was when Storm Lion came to her shortly after the death of his wife in childbirth. He grieved so much every time he saw his children, Janda and Mavors, that he could no longer function as the warrior the world expected him to be. When she made the mother’s identity a secret and it remain permanent she knew she could alter other deep rooted memories. For instance, she no longer wanted to be mortal foster child of Hione. Instead she wanted to be remembered as a goddess who true father was Hione and who was sister to Storm Lion and Aru. And perhaps that was her greatest secret. That she truly was not a goddess at all but only a powerful mortal who had deceived the mortals and gods.

But when the burden of what had been done in the Grumgard Valley became too much for many of the members of Hione’s raiding parties, he commanded his ‘daughter’ to eliminate the knowledge of the Valley entirely from the minds of the gods. No one would know exactly where on the plane of Godsheim the ruins of the true homelands of the Giants rested. But since Magus never revealed himself, Ratri didn’t realize he knew it all.

Once the party left, the Jotnar found what he was looking for. The stone Egg of Arrow Attracting was exactly what Sjinnar needed to destroy Carrunos. It was used in Blues’ final run much to the woe to the players.

The party received the ironsilk bag of specially forged chain from Daglir and was instructed to not open it until they were in close proximity to Hralor.

After a lengthy discussion about the morality of the gods and what plan needed to be followed, the party decided to direct the Valkyries to the cottage of Hetta Rauthur, the girl in the red cloak.

But before they could leave Ratri appeared and traded secrets with them. They learned that Thoki was the offspring of Ratri and Aru, and that the way to make Hralor solid permanently was to find and remove her Ratri’s dagger from his belly. Hrolfson Steady hands asked her how to become a god and she told him to become a woman and become impregnated by a god, carry a god child within him and take some of the power for himself. That was the first step. In exchange for that information they told her that Kellintar, the Primordial Ettin was in possession of a magic spear that was powerful enough to kill a god.

When they finally went to the cottage of Hetta they found it was located on the edge of a glacier and once the Valkyries left, the party was shot upon by three fur wearing individuals. The party quickly killed them and discovered they had different kinds of fur on their bodies. Hetta came out and after a brief exchange they realized her memory was severely compromised. After stressing her out, she changed into a smaller version of The Beast, Hralor and a fight ensued. They tried to dewere her but the creature she had become told them the story in anger. When she was a young priestess of Danu, she was charged with killing the creature that was born between Ratri and Carrunos, but he had scratched her. After Danu tried to remove the curse and failed, Hetta sought solitude because of the things she would tend to do in her bestial form. But over time her mind broke. She wore the small fate stone around her neck, the one that prophesized Hione’s death in the embrace of The Beast. The party almost killed her but because of primarily Noly’s protests, they left her alive but unconscious. They took the small Fatestone and the Valkyries flew them directly to The Final Battle.

Hrolfson Steadyhands felt his connection to Daglir severed and he knew that Daglir had been killed.

At the battle, they saw the fortress of Meidmar floating in the Well of Aetla, having transported the mass of the Stoneheim army. They also saw Storm Lion battling the World Serpent on the horizon. And finally they saw Hione and the skinless Hralor locked in their epic fight. Since the Valkyries had been previously commanded to never enter the area of a battle where Hione was fighting they dropped off the party on the side. They saw Hione leap up to deliver killing blow to the back and when it didn’t work Hralor turned into smoke and Hione fell to the ground without his spear, Spakveita. As he struggled to his feet the party realized he was suddenly acting very old and that his spear contained much of his youthful vigor and fighting ability. Hralor coalesced and knocked Hione to the ground holding him there with his fanged paws. The party went under The Beast to look for the Ratri’s magical dagger and tried to pull it out. As The Beast started to pull his grandfather to his chest to impale him on the broken spear hafts embedded there, Thunder ran up screaming the incantation to destroy a Fatestone and as he broke it he held its explosion against The Beast. Thunder sacrificed himself in the explosion and as the magic of predestination faded and The Beast turned to see what had harmed him, Hione rolled out of the way. At that same moment, Noly with help from others pulled the dagger free. Waiting on the side for his opportunity, Haldir saw that The Beast’s abilities to become smoke were taken away opened the ironsilk bag and Daglir’s chain erupted outward. Its fine shining golden links shot out like rays of light striking The Beast. It snaked through his exposed muscle while he howled in agony, laced itself into the hard packed earth and started to pull him down. Both Marcus and Noly ran from under the thrashing creature but Thornflower missed her chance to escape as the mystical chains began to wrap the body further. She would have been crushed under Hralor’s weight but Hrolfson redefined her fate and she saw a narrow space between the lines of chains just as the beast god came thundering to the ground. Thornflower lay on the ground panting.

Hrolfson climbed to the top of Hralor’s bound form and withdrew Hione’s spear and yelled that he would kill Hione and become a god himself. Hione was just rising and was still on one knee as Hrolfson charged down the shoulder of the whimpering Beast. Marcus tried to slow down the Ridarri’s charge by trying to tangle up his legs with his staff. It was enough and Hione was prepared. Hione grabbed one of the embedded spears from the chest of Hralor and he and Hrolfson fought in single combat. The light cast by Hione’s spear seemed to return some of his strength and as he tried to wrestle it from Hrolfson’s hands all of his strength returned. He pulled Spakveita free from the traitor’s grip even as Hrolfson tried to alter his form to a wolf and bite Hione’s neck. The Sovereign god pulled him free and threw him to the ground. Hione said, “Hrolfson Steadyhands, I hereby banish to Mannheim until the end of your days. Specifically to Stoneheim, because that is where I throw my garbage!” The rest of the party exchanged glances and seemed to secretly wonder if they did the right thing in putting Hione back on the throne. Hione thanked everyone and told them they would no longer be confined to Valor Hall and that could wander all of Godsheim for all eternity and see its wonders or they could return to Mannheim, but they were now free. He then took Spakveita up to the top of the gold laced mass of predator and said he was sorry but it was Hralor’s limitless hunger that forced his hand in this. He then plunged his spear deeply into the neck of the bound beast. And it was Hralor that died that day…

Extra information:

The people, who were guarding Hetta, were lycanthropes who had to remain hidden even from Hetta.

With so many people on the fence about the morality of Hione and the gods in general, I strongly believe if Hrolfson Steadyhands had approached things differently by starting a speech instead of a charge, they could have overthrown Hione. If they had used Spakveita to injure or kill him, it would have worked on him.

Here is big secret…Only a god or god-like being like a primordial Giant could kill another god or god-like being. If the killing blow was delivered by a mortal, it would not be successful. But the spear would have worked because it contained the essence of Hione’s youth. Also, if a character had tried to push Hione’s spear deeper into the Beast it also would have been successful in killing Hralor. But the spear that Kellintar had made also would work (See Bob West’s runs). This is why Ratri wanted it so badly. As a mortal, she could never be successful at killing a god.

If Hione had died all of the Lantern marks on every Valiant would have faded away, and everyone would have had their freedom anyway.

———————————————————————————–

Long Results from my runs.

Fimbulwinter is over and the natural seasons have returned, now that the sun is giving warmth to the world again. However, Gllalena, the Danu High priestess becomes very lonely with no one to talk with. The party had stolen the protective items from Ulifar. If they had given them to the Alfar in Alfheim, the citizens could have been her companions as Ulifar had been. They could have prevented her depression, but instead Gllalena left her ironwood vine home and burned down a sizable portion of Alfheim before Danu was able to stop her and return her home. Danu visited her High priestess more often and they became very close friends.

Meidmar is floating in the Well of Aetla. Anyone with a sailing background could take it travelling to any place the World Tree touches.

Since the Fatestones predicted the end of the world as we knew it and the Twilight of The Gods, there are no Fatestones that predict events after the Wolf Age. The future is unwritten and the people of these worlds can make their own destiny with nothing written in stone.

Theme Wrap-Up

It was the end of an Age. Long ago the gods had cast from their home the giants who shared it. With both sides resolute in their attitudes toward each other, conflict between them eventually erupted. The gods had on their side a host of the Valiant – the spirits of heroes who had died honorably over the ages. The giants had allies in the form of mighty monsters and strange cults. Both sides were destined to destroy each other so the world could start anew. Unknown to them, that future was written in stone… literally: the descriptions of key events were inscribed on magical tablets known as Fate Stones which caused those details to be inevitable.

Ratri, the goddess of secrets, had a secret of her own — that she was in fact not a god but a mortal who had risen to great enough power to masquerade as a god. To her, the demise of all the god-kind would leave the field clear for her to control the next world. Ratri learned of the Fate Stones and discovered that if one was broken the events it described were able to be changed. She set about locating the Stones, breaking those which opposed her plans (beginning with the prediction of her own death) and protecting those which supported them.

As the final battle raged across the heavens and the mortal realm and the land of the dead, a handful of Valiant whose Fates had been freed by the Wyrd Sisters took action against Ratri’s conspiracy. Through their bravery and sacrifice, they were able to change the ending of the world. Many of the gods were saved, though some were lost and others weakened. Some of the giants were removed, but others elevated in power. Ratri remains at large but with her true nature now revealed to all she will have a harder time making allies… except for those who truly share her cause.

Now a new Age begins, shaped by the ending of the last. With multiple factions fighting, this will be the Age of War. Which side, if any, will emerge victorious at the close remains to be seen in another 1000 years.

Kjallintar’s Revenge

Long ago, in the Sword Ages of the world, most Giants were still friendly with the Gods, and Kjallintar became the companion of the gods, but most especially of Janda and Mavors. Under their authority and tutelage, she judged the law among all the races, giant and non-giant. Indeed, she bore a son to Daglir, whom she named Djaglintar. The offspring of gods and giants may be of either kind, and Djaglintar was of Giant-kind, and remained with his mother. But, Kjallintar was jealous of her privileges as judge, and fearful to appear weak in her application of the law.

One day, in the Riven Shield Age, two mothers came before her, laying claim to the same child. The facts were easily ascertained: the birth-mother had fled before invaders, and was forced to abandon her son. The foster-mother rescued the child and lovingly raised him. Now, both mothers wanted custody. In a similar case, Janda had declared that law could not decide this, and handed the case to Mavors to decide on the equities. He offered to divide the child in twain, but this was merely a ruse to determine who loved the child more, and the child was restored to the foster-mother. Kjallintar tried the same ruse, but was unable to quickly decide which mother was more appalled. Afraid, lest indecisiveness undermine her reputation, she carried out the division, and handed each mother half the corpse. The mothers were distraught beyond words, and Janda was furious. She cursed Kjallintar to have two faces, and banished her. Her children followed and Mavors judged that the curse would fall upon them as well.

Kjallintar nursed her hatred. Djaglintar, being of god-blood, was able to modify the curse, so that each of the Ettin, as Kjallintar’s offspring were called, had two heads, not merely two faces, which gave them powers in addition to being hideous to all other races. All the Ettin swore revenge upon all the gods, that their tongues would be cut out, and that Janda should die painfully at the hands of Kjallintar.

Now, if came to pass that Djaglintar had a son, Albervir, who was subtle of craft and mighty to make marvelous things. But, Albervir was not content, and wanted to be the instrument of his grandmother’s revenge. So, during the Wind Age, he learned the arts of disguise from Ratri, and disguising himself as a Svartalfir, lived a mortal’s life as a faithful follower of Daglir, until he had gained the attention of the god himself and was taken to Godsheim to learn craft. Being the grandchild of Daglir, he learned quickly, and more than his grandfather wished or wot. Having learned deep secrets, he departed for Stoneheim, to perfect his arts. Keeping his disguise, he travelled to Mannheim, and tested many ideas there. But he lacked the power of Daglir’s Forge, that is until he learned of the great power hidden within the volcano Katla.

And so, in the Wolf Age, Albervir proposed to create five great items.

The first would be the Rings of Drawing Clerical Power. These would appear to be rings that gave additional prayers each day, and that would become more and more powerful as the days hastened to the Final Battle. But, in reality, they were drawing power from the Clerics, and at the appointed time would vanish with their accumulated power to add their power to that of Kjallintar. In this manner her vow to cut off the gods tongues would be fulfilled, for how do the gods speak if not through their clerics?

The second would be the spear Aetgir, which could allow a mortal to slay even a god. While Kjallintar, as primordial Ettin, had the stature to slay a god, this spear would make her twice as deadly.

The third would be the armor Weliundmail, which could protect the wearer from the attacks of the gods. The power of this armor would be greatly increased if the power of the wearer were enhanced, as by the rings.

The fourth would be the Helm of Forgetfulness. It was the plan to place this upon Mavors head, so that Janda could watch her brother disgrace himself by forgetting all oaths and promises. This would be her torture, before the blade struck.

The fifth would be the Hammers of Unfate. Albervir had learned of the Fatestones, upon which the Wyrd Sisters had written prophecies that could not fail unless the stone was broken. H bethought that some would protect the gods or foredoom Kjallintar and need to be destroyed. For this purpose, he created two great hammers that, if used to strike a Fatestone, would destroy it, though the energy released might cause great destruction. Djaglintar had learned that the Wyrd Sisters had inscribed two fatestones, one protecting Janda and one protecting Mavors. Both needed to be found and doubtless both destroyed.

He also created a variety of war statues, each with a different purpose, designed to protect his laboratory and to bring low the mortal realms. Some were agile and spider-like, to run down adversaries. Some were built like tortoises, with tails that could batter down castle walls and destroy siege engines. Some were predators, shaped like bipedal crocodiles, some of which were small and swift, and some slower and more powerful. And there were statues in the form of fire-breathing brazen bulls, while others were monstrous beasts with multiple horns and vast strength. And so matters lay, until the Valiant intervened.

Dramatis Personnae, in order of first appearance:

Martine Klaengrdottr

Mannfolk Hero, NPC (backstory)

Len

Vatenari Mage, follower of Mavors, played by Colin Sandon

Treeborn

Mannfolk Guardian, Pantheist, played by Tim de Capio

t, r, a

Svartalfir Hero, follower of Storm Lion, played by Elissa Hoeger

Bruce Battlestandard

Svartalfir Mage, follower of Magus, played by Joshua Gabai

Jaru Fryen

Katterfolk Hero, Pantheist, played by Peter Vancsa

Black Sun

Mannfolk Mage, Storm Lion, played by Aaron Mulder

Hrothnjall

Mannfolk Mage, Servant of Albervir, NPC

Krojin

Ettin Guardian, Assistant to Albervir, NPC

Albervir

Ettin Mage, NPC (offstage)

Hrolff the Burning

Mannfolk Mage, follower of Hione, played by Chris Cavender

Thunder

Katterfolk Cleric of Storm Lion, played by Spencer Kipe

Alyeria

Alfar Guardian, pantheist, played by Zen Zen

Thornflower

Alfar Hero, follower of Storm Lion, played by Susan Bergeron

Krosp

Katterfolk Hero, follower of Danu, played by Charles Taylor

Markus

Katterfolk Cleric of Danu, played by Tim de Capio

Haldir

Alfar Hero, follower of Carrunos, played by Michael Brokes

Pirata Fuerte

Katterfolk Hero, follower of Storm Lion, played by Timothy Sullivan

KatteroHexMonkeybane

Katterfolk Hero, follower of Storm Lion, played by Ryan Carr

Amberette

Svartalfir Cleric of Danu, played by Megan Coppock

Pfferdsensen

Riddari Guardian, follower of Carrunos, played by Greg Nelson

Magus

God of Magic, played by Alex Reutter

Noly

played by Charles Taylor

Rogar Ironheart

Svartalfar Hero, follower of Daglir, played by Corwin Knaff

Vegt

Mannfolk Mage, follower of Hione, played by Alan Zitomer

Mavors

God of Justice, played by Robert West

Kjallintar

Primordial Ettin, NPC

Chapter 1: In search of a lost expedition

The morning dawned as ever in Valor Hall, except that groups of the Valiant were preparing for missions to other realms — a thing that had not happened for an age. As groups were forming, and ways to forestall the evil times discussed, one lone survivor from such an expedition arrived. It was Martine Klaengrdottr, a Mannfolk Hero, who had travelled with six companions to Mannheim, following some vague clues. Moments before entering Valor Hall, where all her wounds would surely be cured, she collapsed. Several of the Valiant rushed to succor her, but she died in their arms. Her last words gave the location of a cavern in the great volcano Katla and the garbled phrase “Alb..collapse..second..” In her possession is a burnt-out Trollhammer and the fragments of a stone with an inscription in moving, magic writing, that somehow gave an impression of being of more-than-ordinary importance.

Examination of the broken stone revealed a text: “Janda will live longer than her brother, but if Mavors should die, a new star shall appear and then fade, and Janda shall not outlive that star.” Examination of the trollhammer revealed that it once was a fearsome weapon that had power to smash items of great power, perhaps even the fable fatestones. The burnout released such great power that it was now only under slight enchantment.

Seven members of the Valiant gathered to go to Katla, find the cavern and explore. Wishing to prepare themselves for what might be a desperate battle, they arrived at dusk in a secluded dell within sight of Katla, cast spells and prayers of preparation, and settled down to rest. In the morning, they ascended the forested slopes of Katla where they spied furtive movement underneath the trees and black crows at about the place where they expected to find the cavern. Moving cautiously, the group drove off an attack by huge dire wolves.

The cavern was nearly completely blocked by a rockfall, through the gaps of which carrion birds flew. Martine’s last words might have spoken of such a collapse, but was it a natural misadventure, or was it connected to the burned-out hammer? And what did this have to do with the danger to the Gods? With due care and great labor, the Svartalfir, aided by the remaining members of the party, removed the rocks and opened the way into what was left of the cavern. The interior was piles of rock, and the back was blocked by another rockfall. The whole smelled of burning and of the charnel-house.

More digging revealed the bodies of the lost expedition, and their magical treasures, mixed with burned parts of some sort of giant. A debate ensued on the proper disposition of the bodies, and whether their prized weapons and other magical possessions should be left with them as grave goods. An infernal machine soon dubbed the Hammer Wheel lay on its side. There were signs of an enormous fire and collapse, and a muffled, high-pitched laugh could be heard. One of the bodies had a sack, which contained an undamaged table with a prophecy concerning Hione. Was this the “second” of which Martine spoke? It did not read as something that ought to be destroyed; perhaps it was to be protected from destruction?

Digging some more, a door was found, and behind that door a filthy chamber, with a man, half-starved and dying of thirst, who identified himself as Hrothinjall, assistant to the Great Albervir. Albervir, it seems, had somehow fooled Daglir and received training as an artificer. (Was this what Martine meant by “Alb”?) Hrothinjall was clearly quite mad, but careful questioning and ESP revealed that Albervir was the grandson of Kjallintar, that “fate had been destroyed”, that the trollhammer and a vast explosion had a part in that, that turning on the Hammerwheel was dangerous, and that the party should remove the remaining rockfall so they could die. He also denied that the stone found was the “second”, saying that the first and second were “like, yet unlike, such as siblings ought to be.”

Hrothinjall was locked back in his cell, now cleaned and provisioned. The Hammerwheel was dragged outside, and Bruce Battlestandard began to play with it, trying to understand its function. Meanwhile, a metallic statue in spider-form strode through the rockfall on the far side of the cavern, and attacked the party. Another appeared, in the shape of a great tortoise with a shell made of stone and a tail in the form of a huge club. A third also appeared, in the form of a crocodile that walked upon two legs made of brass. Black Sun, having decided that the rockfall was an illusion that affected all senses, strode through it purposefully, and found himself confronting a small (20′) ettin who was starting up a fourth statue, this in the shape of a quadruped with three horns. A long corridor stretched behind. After a pitched battle, the spider was destroyed, and the turtle entangled with the Hammerwheel. Both went careening down the mountainside. Using spells of hallucination and tripping, the Ettin was disabled long enough for the party to effect its escape. In a valiant last blow, Treeborn blinded the Ettin, but was himself slain. The party escaped to the plain and sounded the horns to summon the Valkyrie to return them to the Halls of Valor.

Meanwhile, came the news that Janda was dead, and a new star had appeared that the sages said would soon vanish. In light of later events, it was clear that a servant of Kjallintar had given up his life to strike the Fatestone that protected Janda’s life, striking it with a Hammer of Unfate. Martine’s party had, doubtless, died attempting to prevent this. The nature and fate of the “second” stone would be revealed in due course.

Chapter 2: Exploring the Laboratory

Having confirmed from other sources that this was indeed a laboratory, a party of seven set forth to learn what could be learned, thwart what could be thwarted, and perhaps to wrest some powerful knowledge and/or weapons. It was agreed that there was a second fatestone somewhere that had to be destroyed before the new star faded, whatever doom it portended. Arriving, they saw a large number of Ettin, guarded by statues, bearing objects off to the Southwest. Rather than engage in a hopeless, but glorious, fight, the Valiant decided to enter the cavern complex. Using Locate Object, the mages were able to pinpoint the location of a stone, similar in substance to the broken one, but intact, and which gave off an air of portentousness. Hrothnjall was gone from his prison, and the corridors of the laboratory were vacant. Apparently all been abandoned in some haste: remnants of a library remained, as did component parts of various infernal devices and a rear guard of the combat statues. Some of these were gathered for later analysis.

Because time was believed to be of the essence, the party tried various ways to limit combat. Attempts to use Dimension Door and Teleport to reach the location failed. Eventually, using stealth, the Valiant found their way deep inside the mountain, to a chamber that contained a strange cylindrical device. The device seemed to bring up mud and steam from the unguessable depths at which the dormant volcano was active. Beyond the device was a narrow passage, too small for an ettin, or indeed a riddari. At the end of that passage was a smooth surface, impervious to Darkvision. Ordinary light would penetrate it, however, and beyond was a stone tablet, written with magic writing.

Hrolff the Burning had knowledge of a crystal that darkvision could not penetrate: such crystal is impervious even to the greatest of fire, or indeed lava itself. It is very hard, but very brittle. A strong stroke thrusting with a sword shattered it, and the stone was brought forth. Reading the magic writing, “Mavors will live longer than Janda, but if Janda should die, a new star shall appear and then fade, and Mavors shall not outlive that star.”

Obviously, this was the “second” stone, like a sibling to the first. Sages have since argued about the fact that two fatestones, both created by the Wyrd Sisters, contradict one another so directly. Some say that it shows limitations in the knowledge of the Fates, but others argue that a Fate is not contradicted until events inconsistent with that Fate transpire. If either Mavors or Janda died, one of the two Fatestones would be false, so clearly neither could die until one or the other stone was broken. And it was fated that at least one should be broken, as clearly as if that fact had itself been written on stone. Kjallintar’s plan was now clear: having destroyed the Janda stone, she would strive to preserve the Mavors-stone from all harm, thereby sealing his doom.

Hrolff knew of a method by which such a fatestone could be destroyed, but he had never seen it done, and did not know what the consequences were. So, he began a chant of the victory of his Will over Stone Sealed Fate. And when it was done, the stone shattered, but so did the cylinder behind him. A great gout of flame poured out, enveloping and incinerating him, as clearly foretold by his name. Thunder stepped forward, prepared to throw all his power into a massive cure that could save Hrolff, but it was too late. And, somehow, Thunder sensed that Hrolff had been chosen by Fate to die, and that interfering with that could only bring further woe.

The cylinder now spewed out mud and clay, which was glowed of magic. The party gathered up handsful of it and proceeded to return to Valor Hall, singing the praises of the mage who had sacrificed his life for Mavors as the star that was to herald his doom faded from sight. The clay that was extracted from the mud proved to have marvelous powers: a few minutes’ concentration, and it would transform itself into a magical weapon or armor. The more clay used, the bigger the weapon or armor.

Chapter 3: Out of the Frying Pan, into the Lava

Suspecting that there were secrets yet undiscovered lying within the abandoned caverns, Pirata Fuerte, KatteroHexMonkeybane, Amberette and Pfferdsensen set forth to explore them, only to find the entire region in great turmoil. Volcanoes to the West and North were erupting. Katla was smoking, and the earth shaking.

Hurrying inside, they were trying to decide what to do and where to go first, when, suddenly, five figures appeared in their midst. The tallest wore a strange hat and seemed somehow familiar. He proclaimed himself Magus, God of Magic, and introduced his companions: Markus, Noly, Rogar Ironheart and Vegt. Magus proclaimed his mission — to seek the heart of the volcano. The party gladly accompanied him: how could they fail with a god at their side?

Magus could sense that they needed to go deep, and Markus knew the way to the corridor that led to at least one deep chamber, and probably to more. In a flash, the party was at that level, having bypassed all the remaining defenses. Hearing from Markus of the wonderful clay that the previous group had found, many wanted to mine as much as they could. Others wanted to continue. A check of the ladder found that there was a large quantity of clay, mixed with common mud, that had been filling up the chamber. It would require a significant amount of time to sort out what was high quality and what was lesser quality.

Coming up from the depths, the sound of many feet were heard, and a quick check around the corner revealed a number of golems preparing to attack. As the Valiant prepared to fight their opponents, it suddenly became apparent that Magus had left them. The monsters were restrained with webs, and with a combination of fierce blows and powerful spells were soon reduced to wrecks. As had happened previously, the golems soon exploded when wrecked, but that was all one: the party had gone on to search for Magus.

At length, they found an open door, held in place with a spell of locking, and a ladder leading down. There they found a workshop with discarded remnants, and a small tunnel leading beyond. There, near the very throat of the volcano, they found a great steam-operated hammer, and a forge that appeared to have once been fed with lava from the very depths of the mountain. Near the forge was a cache of rings, obviously magical in nature. A quick analysis showed that had the same writing as a ring possessed by Markus, with words blessing all the priests of all the gods. Such rings had been found before, and added greatly to a priest’s power to grant the favors of his or her god. There were also other strange things found, remnants of great magical forgings.

Travelling on to the throat of the volcano itself, they found Magus engaged in conversation with some invisible being, whom Magus treated with respect. Even, if it were possible, asking advice, or perhaps permission?

Far below them, rising slowly, was a Bálroc. a foe beyond all present put together save, perhaps, the god himself. Even Magus seemed concerned. He informed his companions that this was not an inhabitant of the volcano, as many had thought, but the spirit of the volcano itself: the living embodiment of its power. Its wings carried heat beyond mortal imagining: were it not for the power of the god, they would have not been able to resist it for long. Still, Magus required more power, and asked for donations, whether of the quotidian numinous power vouchsafed to a priest, or the mental concentration that enables a mage or guardian to cast mighty spells, or of items in the group’s possession.

Even as the request was made, e’re it could be considered, Markus and Amberette felt much of their power flow to Magus, with no volition on their part. This was not only the power they got from their rings, but also an equal portion of the power that was their own. Concern over such matters aside, the party donated a great store of magical treasure to Magus, whereupon the items vanished. Using this power in a manner that only Magus could explain, he was able to converse with the Bálroc, and convince it to calm. In the process, he found it was his fate to converse with the Bálroc for a time, and bid his companions farewell. As he left, he tossed his hat at them, which shredded into numerous pieces. A quick fly spell enabled the precious pieces of Magus’s hat to be caught, and it was soon found that each had a wondrous power.

No longer in danger of an erupting volcano, but sensing that the Final Battle was indeed approaching, the group explored further. Nearly half of the time they dared allot, they spent recovering, sorting and cleansing the wonderful magical clay, of which they could quickly make magical weapons and armor. The rest of the time was spent exploring libraries and storage areas. Parts that had been used to make tampers to excite other volcanoes were found, and it was soon realized that the Hammerwheel found by the first group was a failed experiment in the development of such items. Descriptions of the golems were found, together with a catalog of their weaknesses. And there was a description of magical components needed to complete a great weapon and great armor that could stand even against gods.

Armed with many new items, blessed by their intercourse with a god and enlightened by the knowledge they had discovered, they felt certain that the time of the Final Battle was approaching. What secrets were left unlearned, they regretfully had to leave behind. Unfortunately, the secret of the Rings was not among those they found, and their experience with Magus and the ease with which power left those who wore them did not cause the Valiant to suspect the rings’ true nature.

Chapter 4: A Wild God Chase.

For as long as anyone could remember, Mavors had come to the feasts of the Valiant, and had boasted that he would lead them on the day of the Last Battle. Then, one day, Mavors came to table, bragging not of his prowress, but of the beauty of his new helm and shield. And, when one of the Valiant toasted him about his pledge to join the last defense of the gods, and asked when this would be, Mavors denied he had ever said such a thing, nor would he go to the Last Battle.

That the God of Justice should deny what all knew to be true, and abrogate his vow, this was thing such as had not been seen in all the Ages of the World! Even the mortal priests of Mavors were discomfited, as their prayers no longer worked to track or punish felons if their crimes were more than a few hours old. It was as if Mavors no longer sought justice. Surely this was a sign of the End!

A party gathered to resolve the mystery and bring Mavors back for the Final Battle. Their first stop was the Palace of Mavors in Goddesheim, There they were challenged by Rognir, keeper of the gate. Discoursing at length with him, they were finally admitted to Godwulf, seneschal of Mavors. There they learned that a dwarf, bearing the tokens of Daglir, had brought Mavors a new helm and shield for the upcoming battle, and that as soon as Mavors donned them, he became noticeably more vain. After the uproar at Valor Hall, he had left for parts unknown, presumably to right some injustice, or visit just vengeance on the Giants.

Casting a Locate spell to find Mavors, Vegt was astonished to realize that he was in Stoneheim: such magics had never worked across the gulf between realms before. But, there were reports of strange happenings in the wake of Magus’s departure: the governor seemed to be off magic, and spells now were much less predictable than they had always been. Summoning the Valkyries to take them to Stoneheim, Vegt was able to get a distance and direction that seemed to correspond to a great castle. Hiding as some of the local inhabitants passed by, the party learned that this was the stronghold of Kjallintar herself.

Unbeknownst to the party, as none of them were clerics, the Rings of Draining Clerical Power had all vanished, taking with them not only their own power, but an equal amount of the power belonging to the clerics wearing each. This power had infused Kjallintar, and enabled her to let Albervir place the final touches on her armor, that made her proof against any god. In fact, so much power had been drained, that she felt the first stirrings of divine abilities herself: to seek out followers and grant prayers.

Following the path to Kjallintar’s castle, the party listened, to some of the servants, and found that Mavors was an honored guest, making merry in the meadhall with Kjallintar. That night, the party spied in the window, and found that this was true. Mavors sat there, a gorgeous helm upon his head, with servant-maidens to either side taking care lest it fall off, even has he began to nod from the strong drink of the Ettin. Soon, he was led off to a bedchamber, where he lay down, helm still upon his head, and again with maiden-Ettin as servants to see that it remained so all night.

Bravely sneaking in with invisibility and veil, Rogar Ironheart managed to strike the helm from Mavors head. A battle was soon joined with the Ettin, but Mavors quickly awoke and put an end to that. Into the corridor he strode, and was there confronted with Kjallintar in her splendid armor. Wrathful, Mavors drew his red sword and struck with all his might, but his blow glanced off harmlessly. And Kjallintar sang, sang a song of wrath and of vengeance for long-nursed wrongs. And as she sang, Mavor’s face grew pale: memories came flooding back to him of a vow repudiated, of wrongs left unpunished in the world because he had forgotten them. Such was the power of the helm.

Screaming in anger and shame, Mavors turned from the scene, and unbound himself from his physical form, to fly where in the great Worldrealm he would go. There, unprotected, were he erstwhile saviors, facing an Ettin that even a god could not harm, and her mighty followers. They gripped their weapons and awaited their doom.

But Kjallintar laughed. She had grown, grown in wisdom and cruelty as she had grown in power. She knew where Mavors had gone and what he would do. And she knew what it would do to these mortals to see their last hope destroy himself; to see the Abyss as it were before their feet. Let them live and feel her wrath a while longer before they were hunted down and destroyed! Ettin no more, she was now the Goddess of Wrath, and mighty among the gods was she!

And so, the party fled the scene. There, Vegt prepared to locate Mavors, and found that his spell had great power, as if it were somehow aided. Summoning the Valkyries, they went to the farthest limb of the World-Tree, where it hung out over the Void. There was Mavors, desperate and sorrowful, knotting a noose in a great rope.

“I am guilty! I, who have proclaimed duty and honor and virtue and justice with truth, I am the most guilty of all. For it is I who was to be the font and source of justice, yet I have let injustice prevail! I proclaimed oaths inviolate, and I violated mine! God of Justice? God of Hypocrisy! Let me die here as I have condemned others to die and expiate my sin as my blood drains into the Void.”

The party remonstrated with him. Each took his turn persuading Mavors: he was the victim of spells, of trickery, but he was adamant. Were his sister alive, he could have trusted himself to her justice. But now, there was none. None but he, and only self-slaying would stay the guilt in his heart. He had willingly set aside the armor of eld, and put on the armor of vanity that was placed before him. It was his weakness, his lack of virtue that made all this possible.

At length Sven Silverbeard spoke. “Suffer your fate and punishment if you must, but you have a Last Battle to fight, and if you abandon that, and your followers as well, then you will break faith yet again, and commit even greater sins. Can evil expiate evil? Nay! Then live, at least for the time appointed to this battle. Then, if justice requires that you be punished, let it be done with order, so that your oaths are fulfilled as much as they can be.”

And Mavors hearkened to the words. His sword he held high, and with his companions went to where he was needed, to fight for the gods, and for the mortals that follow them.

Hunter or Prey

Teaser

Carrunos and Danu have been estranged from the gods due to Ratri’s “seduction” of Carrunos — at least if you listen to Danu. In the Wind Age they have left the other gods and taken up residence with the Alfar in Alfheim.

Now the giants come and while Carrunos and Danu oppose them, their split from the other gods weakens the defenses for Godheim and may spell disaster in the fated Final Battle.

Inspiration

Carrunos was our Freyr-analog. During Ragnarok he participated in an epic fight against the Fire Giant Surtr — which he lost. Freyr was also a god of fertility (and I think that came across), was married to the giantess Gerðr (or Gerd), and had given away his magic sword (potentially Lævateinn/Hævateinn) which fights on its own “if wise be he who wields it”. Without it he lost to Surtr.

Of the primordial giant that opposed him, Hione said this:“Let me tell you a story of gods and giants,” he began. “Once upon a time Sjinnar, runt of the giants, lived among the gods, and they were friends. Back then, Sjinnar was the greatest of trackers. It is said that he could follow a falcon on a cloudy day. But Sjinnar was alone, and jealous of Carrunos and Danu. One day, Sjinnar proposed to Carrunos that they should hunt for a glimpse of Mimir’s children at play, and they went to a very misty place that no one had explored before. It was Sjinnar’s intention to lose Carrunos there in the Mist between worlds, but Carrunos has an unerring ability to find his way in the wild. Instead, Sjinnar still wanders that other land.”

Also the fact that Carrunos and Danu had left the rest of the gods in the Wind age, and we’ve got a lot going on.

So, Sjinnar, primordial creator of the Jotnar, becomes our Surtr-analog. However, the Jotnar cloak themselves in illusion and are tricksey instead of being associated with Fire, so they get others to do much of their dirty work for them, involving Trolls, Tetrakh, and even Ratri and her Cult of the Serpent. However, the giants always being half a step less powerful than the gods, Ratri was actually playing him.

Sjinnar hungers for revenge. The best he could do would be to blind Carrunos and let him wander forever lost in the mists behind the nine realms. Killing Carrunos would not be as sweet. And those mists, which he has learned to walk over the Ages he’s been stuck in them, allows him to move others between the nine realms without using the normal bridges between them.

Sjinnar knows he needs to lure Carrunos out of his place of power, and will use his own hubris to do so. He convinces Drótten (warband leader) Skirnismal, a renowned Tetrakh archer, that he has a plan to allow Skirnismal to overcome Carrunos. Several tricks would be used. First it is set up to kill the most in the shortest time, and with four arms he could fire two bows of haste and outshoot Carrunos. Second the targets would be the Bálhaukr, firehawks, little cousins to the legendary Bálroc, Fire Roc, which slept in volcanos. Without special arrows, they would burn up or melt before hitting.

But all of that was for Carrunos to discover and become complacent, because the biggest trick was causing them to overload and immolate to hurt and blind Carrunos so Sjinnar could pull him into the mists. This is homage back to Surtr the Fire Giant.

Now, Sjinnar is nothing but opportunistic. The Bálhaukr were available because the Cult of the Serpent, one of the two organizations that were part of the Open Door of Night, Ratri’s secret organization. They were attempting to anger the Bálroc to set off the volcanos, and part of what was done was to steal their little cousins away. (To find out more about them, and also the final straw to setting off the volcanos with the Thumpers, please see Andy’s and Alex’s scenarios.) He gets Trolls to make fireproof cages out of volcanic rock.

He later brings Trolls to cut of the Svartalfar’s supply of Star Metal (3rd run), and sends some Jotnar into Godheim itself to bring back the Stone Egg from the giant’s ancestral valley from before they were exiled (Steve Wolfson’s run). And finally, he waits in the mists to ambush Carrunos and enact his revenge.

This run needs a bit of a preface. It was intended to give the PCs two (but really three) spread out goals that all involved investigation and travelling and a limited amount of time to achieve them. They would have access to the Valkyrie to transport them, but sounding the horn would put forces on alert. How would they spend their time and resources, which goals would their prioritize.

However, directly before this run started, the Mirror/Eye of Oodlask was recovered. This meant that they had perfect visibility over the entire world including perfect retrocognition. So they found out people involved, and played them back in time until the found everything. It was gorgeous how effective they were in using it, and they were able to accomplish all three objectives with time enough to go back and stomp on some Ettins that they had stealthed through the first time in order to get more loot. Smart murderhobos, I salute you.

Carrunos would be wounded by overloaded immolating firehawks, but even though it would put him directly in the blast radius his cleric Dimrodel cast Immunity to Fire on him. Carrunos was still blinded by the light of the burst of the magically enhanced firebird.
Carrunos was then almost killed by Ratri with Kjallintar’s god-slaying spear, with Dimrodel again casting to stabilize. Ratri struck again the next round, yet Wuswosun bent fate and god vs. god became a narrow miss. Ratri struck a third time, and this time Archion Stormfriend, locked in a one-on-one duel with the leader of the Tetrakh Honor Guard,

Carrunos was blinded and dragged into the mists by Sjinnar, but with the aid of Dimrodel, Wuswosun and the more-giant-than-giant Bruce Battlestandard was able to overcome and slay him. Dimrodel, his cleric, and Wuswosun, his beloved Danu’s cleric, replaced his eyes with carved ones of Oak and Holly (thank you Regrowth spell) and given an extra boost from Bruce’s Second Sight, was abel to lead all four of them out of the mists.

Resolution

Carrunos was convinced by the players to rejoin the other gods, and once her Fatestone was broken and she stopped turning a deaf ear to him, Danu relented and came as well. His eyes have been burned out and replaced with one of Holly and one of Oak. One of his saviors, his cleric Dimrodel, now bears similar eyes. Perhaps he will be the next High Priest of Carrunos.

Katterfolk have done several important tasks for him, but when Hattero banished Ratri who was attempting to assassinate him at the eventual cost of his own life, his friends asked Carrunos a boon to honor his sacrifice. Carrunos acknowledges Katterfolk as true hunters, the closest thing he’s get to an apology, and his blessing now work on them.

But Carrunos has spilled his lifeblood and will be weakened for a long time to come. Luckily he can call upon his strong arms, such as his paladin Sven Silverbeard or the instrument of his vengeance and now wielder of his bow, Wuswosun.

Sjinnar is slain, his bashed and arrow riddled body lost in the mists that will now forever be his final resting place. The soul of any Jotnar that now dies will go to Baenheim, but those Jotnar souls that died before him and went to Sjinnar will forever be trapped in the mists behind the realms, haunting them and turning them dark.